Brits don’t have the best reputation abroad. Not on their summer holidays, at least. But the same cannot be said in the global food and drink industry. Whether they’ve been poached from UK success stories, or promoted up the ranks to international HQ, British grocery execs are in high demand around the world.
Top jobs in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia on both the retail and supply side are now occupied by highfliers who started out in the small, highly competitive UK market.
And that competitive start is part of the appeal in recruiting the few who manage to fight their way to the top, says Annabel Richards, consultant at global headhunters Redgrave Partners.
“We place UK retail talent across the globe and typically, a significant proportion of shortlisted candidates on international retail searches are British,” she says. It is “quite widely accepted that the UK and North America are at the forefront of global retailing” while the likes of Australia are a decade behind, so they are keen to tempt British talent to take them forward, she adds.
On the retail side, experience from working for international retailers such as Tesco has made them valuable commodities (and in recent times Asda has proved an invaluable training ground for several Walmart highfliers).
“There aren’t that many global retailers where individuals have experienced full international exposure and been able to operate globally,” she says. “People who can move around the world and do top-notch retailing in different environments are quite hard to find as most retailers are fairly domestic.”
UK execs are also miles ahead in online grocery compared with much of the world, so they are headhunted for their digital know-how. And, as an bonus, they can often tempt colleagues to join them overseas as well.
For coveted Brits, it isn’t only the opportunity of sunnier climes and eyewatering pay deals that make these offers tempting.
“After rising to a senior level in the UK, the biggest jobs are not always available at a time when those individuals are looking to take the next step so an international move is a potential route for many,” says Jane Dessar, head of the consumer, retail & leisure division at global headhunters Odgers Berndtson.
“Torrid times” here in the UK have also meant more Brits eyeing up better prospects abroad. There have been “fewer opportunities” amid “difficult trading conditions”, adds Richards, leaving many Brits “more open to thinking about a move”.
And particularly on the supply side, it’s an accepted norm for senior executives to sign global contracts that require them to develop their experience in other markets. In any event they’re being welcomed abroad with open arms. So here are some of Britain’s Britain’s highest flyers in international food and drink.
Richard Evans
President of PepsiCo Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA)
Age: 55
Hometown: Leamington Spa
Where is he now? Geneva, Switzerland
Salary: Not published
Start date: January 2014
How is he performing? Evans has had a battle on his hands with PepsiCo’s flagship brand since assuming control for Western Europe and South Africa two years ago. Driving up sales of the drink in South Africa, where rival Coca-Cola is ubiquitous, has been an uphill struggle, with regional bottling company Pioneer even declining to renew its contract shortly after Evans’ promotion, following “disastrous” sales in the country. And closer to home there have been challenges of a different order. Despite the scaled-down obesity strategy unveiled by the government last week, the UK still looks set to slap a sugar tax on all fizzy drinks, which will add about 20% to the price of Pepsi. It’s the latest symptom of a worldwide vilification of the white stuff (last week it was revealed Mexico plans to double the amount it taxes on soft drinks) that could see Pepsi (and its rivals) fall out of favour, along with the Tropicana brand for which Evans is also responsible. In this incendiary climate, sales across the ESSA region plummeted in 2015 from $13.4bn to $10.5bn. But the Oxford Brookes graduate, who helped turn Trivial Pursuit into a 1980s icon, has overcome worse odds, achieving growth in the midst of the recession here in the UK. And with more than a decade of experience across African and European markets, he’s more than up to the challenge.
James Quincey
President & COO at Coca-Cola
Age: 51
Hometown: London
Where is he now? Atlanta, US
Salary: £5.2m
Start date: August 2015
How is he performing? A year in and it’s clear Quincey’s appointment is no silver bullet for Coca-Cola. In April, the group reported lacklustre results for Q1 with revenue down 3.7% thanks to flat sales of fizzy drinks as a result of dogged health warnings. But the former head of European operations doesn’t back down without a fight. “If there are doubts out there in the general public, whether based on perception or based on reality, then the leader has to stand up,” he said. With that assuredness, the father of two has already turned around the brand’s fortunes in Mexico and convinced Innocent Drinks to sell up. And both he, and CEO Muhtar Kent, look confident they can weather this storm, too. They’ve predicted organic growth of 4% to 5% over the full year, with accelerated refranchising and a major reformulation programme.
Stuart MacFarlane
Zone President - Europe at AB InBev
Age: 48
Hometown: Motherwell
Where is he now? Brussels
Salary: Not published
Start date: January 2014
How is he performing? Though CEO Carlos Brito will be at the helm as AB InBev navigates its way through the historic £71bn takeover of SAB Miller, the Geordie Scot will play an instrumental role in integrating the British brewer’s interests across his enormous patch, which stretches to Russia’s border with the US. If all goes to plan, and Brexit doesn’t throw a spanner in the works, the acquisition will go down in history as the biggest of any UK company. It’ll also mark another high point in MacFarlane’s impressive 24-year career with the Belgian brewer, at which he began in finance in 1992 before moving into marketing and then sales. Promoted to UK boss, he successfully developed the brewer’s awardwinning Stella Artois Cidre. Then in 2010 he moved to Moscow to run the firm’s Eastern European operations, overcoming both hostile regulatory and climate conditions to turn Budweiser into Russia’s number four premium brand from a standing start.
And since being promoted to lead the whole of AB InBev’s European markets two years ago, he’s carefully restructured the business to reflect the unique characteristics of each country (and helped to get the UK back on track after a downturn in its fortunes). Not a bad track record for the lad from Motherwell.
John Durkan
Managing director at Coles
Age: 52
Hometown: London
Where is he now? Melbourne
Salary: £2.7m
Start date: July 2014
How is he performing? Durkan has been nothing if not outspoken in the two years since he left the UK for sunnier climes at Coles Supermarkets, Australia’s second-biggest grocer, which operates nearly 800 stores across the country and has been owned by Wesfarmers since 2007.
Only in March the ex-Carphone Warehouse COO, who also spent 17 years at Safeway including a spell as trading director, came out as a vocal critic of trading hours, penalty rates and over-regulation “bordering on absurdity” in the Aussie grocery market. And a few months earlier he’d hit headlines with claims that multinational suppliers continued to treat Australia like “treasure island”, charging premiums to customers to fund their Asian growth.
Then again, Durkan can afford to speak frankly. Food and alcohol sales at Coles grew 5.9% last year to AUD$7.5bn after a raft of new store openings and refurbishments despite weak consumer spending across retail.
Like-for-like sales were also up 4.9% despite price deflation. Only convenience sales let the side down with a decline of 8.9% at c-stores and service stations.
Fiona Dawson
President of global food at Mars
Age: 49
Hometown: Dublin
Where is she now? Brussels/Berkshire
Salary: Not published
Start date: January 2015
How is she performing? Three years after Mars veteran Dawson became the first woman to lift The Grocer Cup, she’s looking after a multibillion-dollar portfolio of global brands sold across 28 markets. Based in Brussels, she spends 70% of her time on the road (or on a plane) but returns to her home in Berkshire at weekends. In April she faced controversy as Dolmio and Uncle Ben’s advised customers that high salt, fat and sugar content in some recipes meant they should be for ‘occasional’ use only. It was a brave move, praised as “imaginative” by the National Obesity Forum, and points to Dawson as a businesswoman of integrity and a lateral thinker in the health debate.
Matthew Price
President, Procter & Gamble, China
Age: 50
Hometown: Rochford
Where is he now? Guangzhou
Salary: Not published
Start date: January 2015
How is he performing? China is posing a major challenge to multinationals, thanks to a slowdown in consumer spending, increased retail competition and the advent of online shopping. Procter & Gamble, which makes 8% of its total sales in China, has been struggling alongside rivals Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark to maintain sales.
However, Price is on the case. Earlier this month, P&G said the erosion of its market share had begun to slow, which CEO David Taylor credited to the introduction of “new products and improved marketing”. And other opportunities are beginning to open up for Price, not least a boost in the number of potential customers after China dropped its one child policy (allowing two children as of 1 January this year). That will add momentum to one of its hero products, Pampers. Sales of its market-leading nappies have been flat in the US for years (hovering around the $5bn mark) but they are soaring in China, up from $2bn in 2009 to $7.2bn in 2015, according to data from Mintel. Meanwhile, complaints about the poor quality of toiletries produced domestically has seen demand for imported products grow.
Judith McKenna
COO at Walmart
Age: 50
Hometown: Middlesbrough
Where is she now? Bentonville, US
Salary: Not published
Start date: December 2014
How is she performing? McKenna’s biggest challenge recently is that the 5,283 Walmart US stores she’s responsible for have become crime hotspots (a situation police blame on staff cuts to save money). At the same time she’s contending with the rise of online shopping and a corresponding fall-off in sales. She appears to be making progress. In June, McKenna hailed a mass pay rise for store staff as the reason behind a rise in customer service scores. “When I’m out in stores, I can see we’re getting better,” she said. “We’re restoring pride back into our business.” And last week Walmart reported a Q2 sales lift of 1.6% in its US stores, its biggest like-for-like growth for four years. Meanwhile last Thursday, Asda, which McKenna left in 2013, reported a sales slump of 7.5%, the worst quarterly result in its history.
Steve Easterbrook
CEO at McDonald’s
Age: 49
Hometown: Watford
Where is he now? Chicago, US
Salary: £6m
Start date: March 2015
How is he performing? McDonald’s has been having a tough time of late. At the start of 2015, things were looking worse than a congealing Big Mac. But Easterbrook, the burger giant’s first UK boss, was appointed in a blaze of publicity. His first move was to brand the recent performance “poor” and announce a turnaround plan that shook up the whole operation (and introduced that perennial British favourite, the all-day breakfast). Results improved and McDonald’s ended the year in sales growth with stock at an all-time high. In 2016, momentum slowed, with a global sales uptick of 3.1% falling below analyst expectations. However, it recorded growth for a fourth consecutive quarter, a performance Easterbrook described as “steady progress”.
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